Research activities within the Laboratory are directed to the analysis of physical and chemical characteristics of materials and their surfaces, as well as to the determination of the material damage prevention possibilities when extreme exploitation conditions are concerned. The Laboratory is equipped for a wide range of investigations including determination of the specific surface area and porosity of materials, analysis of the chemical characteristics of material surfaces, material electrochemical properties, and surface wettability.

Examination of the material-specific surface area and porosity includes the pore size distribution and pore morphology determination by applying the Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) method. Namely, measuring of the adsorption-desorption isotherms at the liquid nitrogen temperature by physical adsorption method enables the definition of the material-specific surface area, while the application of different mathematical models allows the calculation of the pore size distribution as a function of the pore shape and size. Investigations performed within the Laboratory are also focused on the chemical characterization of the material surface by applying the chemical adsorption method and measurements of the adsorption isotherms of different gases. Moreover, for the chemical characterization of the material surface, the Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) is also applied to provide valuable information regarding the presence of active sites on the material surface, as well as the qualitative and quantitative information regarding the presence of surface functional groups. The examination of the material electrochemical properties by potentiostatic and potentiodynamic measurements is also performed within the Laboratory where the application of the Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) should be emphasized. Since the material surface wettability in great merit influences the possible material damage prevention and protection, it is often considered as a limiting factor when the operational expectancy of the structural components is concerned. Having that in mind, in our Laboratory special attention is paid to the material surface wettability examinations at room or elevated temperature.

Head of the laboratory
Dr Ivana Cvijović – Alagić